Hassan Mohammed Hasan Abu Reidah (36), father of three children, resident of Khuza’a, east of Khan Younis, gave his testimony on 28.03.2024 

After the 7 October events and the breakout of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, we immediately decided to evacuate to central Khan Younis because we lived in a border area. In the beginning, I took shelter in Shubair Family Council, called “Diwan” in Arabic, in Khan Younis, but the next day I sought shelter in al-Hourani “A” School near al-Thahrah roundabout. 

At the school shelter, we lived in dire circumstances, especially after the Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) moved into western Khan Younis on 22.01.2024; we suffered from scarce food supplies and relentless bombardment. 

On 25.01.2024, Israeli warplanes bombed al-Thahrah neighborhood killing four and wounding others. Using an auto rickshaw, called “Toktok” in Arabic, and donkey carts, I helped with the evacuation of people injured to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis 

On 28.01.2024, Israeli quadcopters ordered via loudspeakers the people sheltering in the school and in the area to evacuate via al-Rasheed Street to Al Aqsa University. The IOF had established there a military checkpoint and Hallabat, a word in Arabic means the milking of cows’ gates, to identify people crossing the checkpoint. 

We headed in groups through the designated roads. I walked alone without my wife, Mrs. Asrar Mahmoud Mousa Shahin (28) and my daughters: Mira (6.5), Siwar (5.5), and Wanasa, (2.5), as I had already sent them with my in-laws to Rafah. 

When I arrived at the checkpoint, I had my personal belongings with me, including my blanket, mattress, and other personal stuff, and was raising my ID card. Suddenly, one of the soldiers called me out via a loudspeaker, so I left my belongings on the ground and went toward the soldiers. One of the Israeli intelligence officers was sitting with his laptop behind a military SUV and asked me about my personal information and then ordered me to sit with other detainees. 

After half an hour, another officer ordered me to strip to my underwear and then gave me a light white overall.  They then forced me to kneel on the ground with other detainees while being blindfolded and hand-and-feet- cuffed. During my time there, I could hear other detainees screaming out of torture and beatings.

I was shocked and terrified from the screams I could hear as the detainee next to me was being beaten with pipes, fearing I would be next and taking into account that I suffered from an old serious skull injury caused by a previous car accident. Few hours later, a soldier dragged me few meters away while threatening and accusing me of being a member of Hamas elite forces. We arrived at a building near the Sharia Court, west of Khan Younis, that IOF had turned into a military site.

I sat for a while with other detainees while the soldiers were mocking us, laughing and beating other detainees. later at night, I did not know what time it was exactly, we were trucked with soldiers in the back holding their sniper rifles and night vision goggles. All the way in the truck, it was raining and the weather was very cold that we were freezing. 

When we arrived in an area near the borders in the occupied Palestinian territory, we were dropped off in a muddy area by being pushed into a pool full of mud. we were shivering from the cold weather, cruel treatment, and debilitating fear.

After 30 minutes of leaving us on the ground, we were led to another area with a dry ground, and an hour later, a bus arrived to take us inside.  We were given a blanket that was thrown on our backs, and heater was turned on in the bus. After that, we arrived at the first detention place, which was a huge barrack. They dropped us off from the bus and made us change the light white overalls.  They gave us underwear, a t-shirt with short sleeves, jacket, pajama and slipper to wear and then ordered us to sleep. We were 85 detainees facing the same measures. 

We slept on very thin mattresses and then woke up to being led to a bus that drove us for a minute and dropped us off in a place near where we were sleeping while still being blindfolded, cuffed and ill-treated. I was taken to an intelligence officer who photographed me, asked for my personal information, and forced me into the eye print device. I was then seated violently in a painful kneeling position.

Afterwards, I was taken to a doctor who asked if I suffered from any chronic diseases or was taking any medications. I told him that I only take a neurology medicine for an old car accident injury. They wrote something on my back and then led me to another detention place, during which, I was repeatedly insulted by a soldier telling me “You are an animal”, but I told him, “No, I am not an animal.” Suddenly, he and another soldier dragged me from within the detainees, threatened me, kicked me and punched ma all over my body, to force me to say I was an animal. I then caved and told him as he wished to avoid the beating and ill-treatment. We were then taken back to our previous detention place. 

I spent 8 days in that place, and they were the hardest days of my life. All day, we were forced to kneel and only limitedly allowed to sleep from 00:00 to 04:30, afterwards we were forced to either kneel or being subjected to cruel investigation rounds. 

Those days were extremely difficult due to the severe torture and sleep deprivation, causing bodily and mental harm to us that made us have suicidal thoughts due to all the all forms of torture we experienced, including beating and systematic deprivation of sleep.

On day 8 of detention, we started a hunger strike due to the torture and deplorable conditions we were subjected to. Thus, the officers threatened that if we went on with our hunger strike, the torture and solitary confinement would scale up. 

Afterwards, soldiers broke in with their dogs, which attacked us, while the soldiers were beating us with their weapons on our heads and punching our waists and limbs. The dogs peed on us amid constant beatings by the soldiers. After midnight, they transferred us to different places, to a larger place with around 120 detainees, including 85 detainees who had serious injuries, some with platinum implants, others with psychological and mental health issues insanely talking to themselves all night and others with chronic diseases and kidney failure, so I realized that I was held with the detainees who suffered from difficult health issues. 

Nevertheless, they subjected the sick detainees to ill-treatment and refused to give them their medical treatment. One of the detainees next to me was a kidney patient, who was beaten while he was on his way in the ambulance to undergo dialysis.

Many patients were not given the needed medical treatment as patients with chronic diseases, were denied medical treatment and were left next to bathrooms. Whenever any of them asked for treatment, the officer and soldiers would reply “I do not care about your health condition, may you all die” amidst a lot of insults and curses such as telling us “Our dogs matter more than you”.

Beside me was a 70-year-old detainee, who suffered from chronic diseases, including prostates and urinary incontinence, the involuntary discharge of urine, as sometimes he peed on himself out of torture and brutal beating. The wardens neglected his medical condition and refused to respond to his requests to go to the bathroom. He told me that he was tortured by being deliberately beaten on his prostates that made him have urinary incontinence and caused toxicity and malfunctioning of his body. Sometimes he would faint and still not given any effective medicine. He died on 15.02.2024 and was transferred outside prison, without knowing where to or the burial procedures. 

During my detention, I was subjected to interrogation and asked about my whereabouts on October 7^th, during which, I was subjected to Shabeh and psychological torture by threatening to target my family, destroy Gaza, and insulted me with the most humiliating swears. 

One of the hardest moments in detention was when the soldiers took our blankets away at 4:00am amid the very cold weather and only gave them back at midnight.

Almost 15 days before my release, they transferred me with other detainees by bus to another detention place. Once I arrived, they threw me on the ground and made dogs pee on me while one of the soldiers hit me with an iron pipe on my right leg, particularly on the knee, causing me an injury that I still suffer from and has caused me a walking difficulty. I have also suffered from back pain due to the deplorable detention conditions and torture. 

We were not allowed to go to the bathroom and instead we were given plastic boxes to use while the food served to us was scarce and not enough. Five days before my release, I got really sick and had a high fever and pain in my throat and ears. As a result, they transferred me to the prison’s doctor who refused to treat me. They made fun of us for fasting and called us insane. I fainted several times as my blood pressure dropped.  To cool down my fever, I tried to treat myself on my own by taking showers many times as I was not given any medication. 

I still have sleep issues due to the torture I experienced and the ensuing harm to my physical health and stress. 

When asking the former detainee if he was presented before any court or judge, he confirmed that he was not presented to any, and that no other entity visited him during his detention 

I was released on 18 March 2024 as a bus transferred me and other detainees to Kerem Shalom Crossing.  Once we arrived at an area adjacent to the crossing, we found the International Committee of Red Cross and UNRWA employees waiting for us.  Then, buses transferred us to Rafah and from there I went to where my family had sought shelter in a plastic makeshift tent.